Four Audiences That Add Meaning to Writing Assignments

Pooja Patel

Becoming a skilled writer is essential in today's world, but often, the type of writing students are assigned in school fails to inspire their best work. Educators face the conundrum of providing students ample writing practice so that they can become better writers (Irvine, Meltzer, & Dukes, 2007), while igniting students' passion for writing with varied, authentic assignments where the purpose is clear and enticing (Graham & Perin, 2007).

How do we help students connect writing to their lives outside of school? How do we motivate students to write and share their thoughts? How do we bolster their perception of writing while helping them continue to strengthen their skills so that they can communicate their ideas and visions to make the world a better place? Graham and Perin (2007) believe that students' motivation, affect, and effort in writing will increase when students engage in assignments with an authentic or meaningful purpose.

In my middle school classroom, a slight shift in how I plan activities within a unit helps me create purposeful assignments that students complete enthusiastically. Although the skills and concepts are the same, the assignment expands the audience for students' work. My students are more motivated and more readily connect to the true purpose of writing—to communicate—when they have a larger audience than just their teacher. Here are four ways I've reframed activities to help students write for a purpose.

Expert Audience

Students may have to write an essay once they have completed a contemporary novel. Instead of having them discuss key themes solely for you, you can ask them to write an essay to the author discussing their point of view or noteworthy ideas. This makes the assessment more meaningful and engaging—writing skills, comprehension, and critical thinking have a real-life purpose when the audience is an expert. My students took the writing process more seriously, worked to strengthen their writing skills, and showed a greater investment in producing work that garners pride.

I have found that most authors are excited to receive essays from their student readers and willingly respond to the students. I reach out to authors, inquiring about their interest and availability, before I introduce this activity to students. Often, I ask the author to compile their response in one letter to the entire class, which I share with students. These author responses help stifle student doubts that writing has a purpose outside of school.

Affiliate Audience

If it is challenging to find someone outside of school to read student essays, see if you can find a colleague within the school to act as the audience. One year, I asked my 7th graders to write a persuasive essay to the principal in response to the fictitious problem: "The principal says that we can no longer teach science fiction in 7th grade. Is this is a good idea?" The students believed the problem was real and were aghast that the administration would consider removing the science fiction unit. In their impassioned essays to the principal, students cited various examples, from short stories they read to nonfiction articles, highlighting the importance of science fiction. At the end, the principal wrote a response to their arguments. Students were delighted to hear that their input was valued and that science fiction would remain in the 7th grade curriculum.

Advocate Audience

All middle school students are developing their skills as research writers. Instead of asking students to research obscure topics that are linked to a unit of study, consider letting students pick their own topics. As students move from elementary to secondary school, they encounter fewer opportunities to make choices in their learning (Otis, Grouzet, & Pelletier, 2005). Research shows that, when students have opportunities to choose, they feel a greater sense of purpose and perform better on assignments (Cooper, Patall & Robinson, 2008). I like to embed the idea of change in the choices I frame for students. Just as they did in the persuasive essay to the principal, my middle schoolers research a topic, and then frame their writing around changes they might advocate for. Students can mail final papers to professionals or leaders on the topics, or share them in online forums.

For example, once my students created research projects on changes they wanted to see in the world, they suggested that we create a website to share their proposals with a wider audience. Since students not only drove their topic choice, but also the means for delivery, they were motivated to produce their best final products for a worldwide audience. They proudly share their website with others, encouraging them to read the various papers posted to the class website, theservicelearningproject.weebly.com.

Tutorial Audience

Writing is multifaceted and mastery takes regular practice in organization, content generation, stylistic elements, and revising (Graham & Perin, 2007). Giving students the opportunity to impart their literacy expertise to other students (possibly elementary students) once they have reached competency helps them continue to practice the skill with purpose. As students become more sophisticated writers, they can craft models and skill-based writing lessons to deliver to younger students. For example, they may teach a 2nd grader how to write a basic example or definition paragraph that has a topic sentence, three sentences with supporting details, and a conclusion.

Teaching writing has always been at the forefront of my pedagogical practice. By sharing their work with a variety of audiences, my students enjoy—and are motivated by—purposeful and authentic writing experiences. Ultimately, teachers help students share their voices with the world. They need not wait until they are adults. My students enthusiastically share their written words with various audiences while strengthening their craft.

References

Cooper, H., Patall, E. A., and Robinson, C. (2008). The effects of choice on intrinsic motivation and related outcomes: A meta-analysis of research findings. Psychological Bulletin, 134(2), 270–300.

Graham, S., and Perin, D. (2007). Writing next: Effective strategies to improve writing of adolescents in middle and high schools. A report to Carnegie Corporation of New York. Washington, DC: Alliance for Excellent Education. Retrieved from http://www.all4ed.org/files/WritingNext.pdf.

Irvin, J.L., Meltzer, J., and Duke, M.S. (2007). Taking action on adolescent literacy. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Otis, N., Grouzet, F. M. E., and Pelletier, L. G. (2005). Latent motivational change in an academic setting: A three-year longitudinal study. Journal of Educational Psychology, 97(2), 170–183.

Pooja Patel is a middle school learning specialist who works as a 6th and 7th grade English and humanities teacher at the United Nations International School in New York City. She is an adjunct instructor at Teachers College, Columbia University, and presents on self-regulated strategy development both nationally and internationally. She has also coauthored a book on formative assessment and differentiation.

ASCD Express, Vol. 10, No. 14. Copyright 2015 by ASCD. All rights reserved. Visit www.ascd.org/ascdexpress.